Purpose

Industry 4.0 is one of the most used terms in the current industrial discussion. There are several perspectives and approaches related to Industry 4.0 so far, but no universal definition. Often-mentioned basic requirements to “implement” Industry 4.0 are lean and well-organized processes. In the past and still until today, a lot of companies try to implement lean production systems (LPS) according to the example of Toyota to realize a systematic approach to ensure well-organized processes. The process model aims to support organizations to integrate Industry 4.0 elements into LPS, regardless of the size of the organization. The purpose of this paper to describe a model as a first basis for further elaborations that could focus on the detailed design of each model-phases. Furthermore, the identified digital elements of Industry 4.0 build a first foundation to choose pilot projects related to existing challenges of the organizations LPS. In this context, especially the suitability of LPS and Industry 4.0 elements should be further investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate the current status regarding the realization of Industry 4.0 approaches and related challenges in the German industry, the two authors realized a survey with over 300 participants from different sectors and company sizes, using an online questionnaire. The results of the survey will be a part of this paper and a technology analysis, which was the outcome of an extensive literature analysis. The results were summarized in a model to integrate digital elements into existing LPS. Practitioners can use the process model as a first orientation to integrate industry 4.0 technologies into their existing LPS, based on specific challenges with their LPS processes.

Findings

Even if most of the participating German companies recognize Industry 4.0 as an important or very important topic, many of them do not consider themselves well prepared. The participants see huge challenges with regard to the needed qualifications and investments Industry 4.0 requires. In general, the companies hope to improve productivity and customer satisfaction to name two main objectives of the implementation of digital elements of Industry 4.0. In addition to the survey, a profound literature analysis was made and identified eight core digital elements. On this basis a milestone-based model to integrate these digital elements into existing LPS was developed.

Originality/value

This paper considers results from a study and analysis regarding the potentials of digital elements of Industry 4.0 for production system from different angles and introduces a model for integrating these elements.

中文翻译：

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将数字元素集成到精益生产系统中的过程模型

目的

工业4.0是当前工业讨论中最常用的术语之一。到目前为止，与工业4.0相关的观点和方法有很多种，但是还没有统一的定义。通常提到的“实施”工业4.0的基本要求是精益和组织良好的过程。在过去直到今天，许多公司都尝试以丰田为例实施精益生产系统（LPS），以实现一种系统化的方法来确保流程组织得井井有条。流程模型旨在支持组织将Industry 4.0元素集成到LPS中，而不管组织的规模如何。本文的目的是将模型描述为进一步阐述的第一个基础，以进一步着重于每个模型阶段的详细设计。此外，还确定了行业4的数字元素。0为选择与组织LPS的现有挑战相关的试点项目奠定了第一个基础。在这种情况下，尤其应进一步研究LPS和工业4.0元素的适用性。

设计/方法/方法

为了调查有关实现工业4.0方法的现状以及德国工业中的相关挑战，两位作者使用在线调查问卷对来自不同行业和公司规模的300多名参与者进行了调查。调查的结果将成为本文的一部分，并进行技术分析，这是大量文献分析的结果。将结果汇总在一个模型中，以将数字元素集成到现有的LPS中。从业人员可以根据他们的LPS流程面临的特定挑战，将过程模型作为将工业4.0技术集成到其现有LPS中的第一个方向。

发现

即使大多数与会的德国公司都将工业4.0视为一个重要或非常重要的主题，但他们中的许多人仍然认为自己没有做好充分的准备。与会人员看到了工业4.0所需的资格和投资方面的巨大挑战。总的来说，这些公司希望提高生产率和客户满意度，这是实现工业4.0数字元素的两个主要目标。除调查外，还进行了深入的文献分析，并确定了八个核心数字元素。在此基础上，开发了一个基于里程碑的模型，将这些数字元素集成到现有的LPS中。

创意/价值

本文从不同角度考虑了对工业4.0数字元素对生产系统的潜力进行研究和分析的结果，并介绍了集成这些元素的模型。